1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to drill press mechanisms and more particularly to portable drill press mechanisms for electric hand drills.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Portable drill press mechanisms are known in the prior art. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,943 of Eft, a drill support and guide apparatus is shown including a pair of guide posts 28, a pair of C clamps 40 attached to the guide posts, and a screw mechanism for urging a power drill 14 towards a work piece 12. U.S. Pat. No. 2,468,358 of Clark teaches a similar mechanism having a slightly different clamping means.
Similar portable drill presses can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,373,065 of Piersall, 2,625,063 of Hanson, 3,089,357 of Grau, 3,979,165 of Pyle, and 3,810,710 of Ennemoser. All of the above cited patents are characterized by an elongated support post and means of attaching an electrical hand drill to the support post such that the hand drill can be urged in the direction of a work piece by a suitable mechanism.
A disadvantage of prior art portable drill press mechanisms is that they are usually special purpose devices designed to do one or two specialized jobs. For example, the drill press mechanism of Ennemoser has a base plate clamping mechanism which allows it to be used solely for the purpose of drilling out vehicle wheel studs. While other portable drill press mechanisms are slightly more flexible in use, they are all limited by the type of base clamp they use.
A further disadvantage with prior art portable drill press mechanisms is that they are designed to move an electric hand drill in a direction parallel to their support post. Again, this limits their usefulness, since it is often necessary to drill angled holes into a work piece.